Aging
by Bittersweet Romanticide
Summary: Growing up wasn't so easy as they had hoped, and relationships weren't as simple as they had seemed to be when they were children. Tokka.
1. Growing Up: Fixed

It was hard enough when Aang reached manhood, his voicedeepening and strengthening shaking with power to stop conversations with a word. The idea of that man, that broad shouldered shaving man with his sister unnerved him a little. It was hard to see his sister as a woman, even though somewhere deep down he knew that she was grown, that the faint resemblance to their mother had grown as they aged. It wasn't until her belly was swollen with a child that he saw her, though, really saw her as a woman standing next to a man, ready to begin a family.

They were grown, they were grown. It drummed in his head endlessly wandering through the small, half-built town they were struggling to create Republic City in. He sat by the river, head pounding, hoping to find some peace and only finding Toph Beifong instead.

With his mantra drumming in his head, the realization of her was sudden and painful. She wore a strip of green fabric tight around her breasts - which were obvious now, even when she wore loose fitting clothes. It was damp and stuck to her as she up ended a bucket over her head. It rolled over her, her dark hair even darker wet, and a bright contrast against her skin. It fell down to her back, and the water rushed onward, over the narrow waist and wider hips, though still far slimmer than Katara's, they were no less feminine. No less adult.

Her feet were just barely in the water, and he suspected she only allowed that because of how muddy and firm the beach was. She put one foot on the drier shore, higher up, and cocked her head. "Sokka? What are you watching for, you perv?"

"You look grown up."

"I am. Thanks for noticing," she said dryly. "I'm twenty, you jerk."

He shrugged. "I guess, but you look grown up. I was just thinking of it, because of Katara, you know?"

"I _look_ grown up?" She jokingly covered her breasts with her hands. "I knew you were a pervert."

"Shut up." He splashed her. "What do you think Katara's gonna have?"

"A waterbending girl." She came and stood next to him. "Come on. We've got grown up things to do."

"Now who's the pervert?"

She yanked his wolf tail. "Shut up. Let's go build a city."


	2. Woman

She was so strong. Physically, he meant. Every bit of her was lined with muscle, thick and solid. She was laying on her back in the sun, enjoying the latest fashion of tight, short sleeves shirts and pants. Normally, he was quite happy that this fashion had taken hold, but now it just seemed torturous. When she pushed herself up to sit, he could see the muscles flex and he can't keep himself from staring. He can't stop thinking of her as Toph the woman, not Toph the Warrior, not Toph the City Builder.

He just kept staring at her, no matter how much he tried not to, and he was hoping beyond all hope that she couldn't feel his eyes on him. That she wouldn't notice his gawking and not know how his body and mind betrayed him at every turn, conjuring up and reacting to images of those tight clothes being stripped away, her body hard and soft at the same time under his hands.

As she propped herself up, her muscles stood out on her arms. "I was thinking about having a baby."

He jumped when she spoke. "What?"

"A baby. I was planning on getting pregnant."

He frowned. "I can't picture you married."

"Of course not." She laughed. "I didn't say married, I said pregnant. I want a baby, not a husband."

"You kind of need one for a baby," he countered.

"No, I just need a man. I think I can get one. Find a strong earthbender, someone charming. I can get pregnant and just not tell him. Not tell the kid either. I can raise a kid on my own."

He frowned and crawled to her. "Do you really think it's that easy?"

"What do you mean?"

He drew a finger slowly down her neck, along her neckline of her shirt. She shivered, and he grinned. "You know you can't just have sex with someone and walk away, don't you? There's usually feelings and stuff involved."

"I know there's feelings," she said, grabbing his hand. "What are you doing?"

"I don't really know." He leaned close and kissed her neck gently. "Starting something I probably shouldn't."

"You've been single too long," she said, but her fingers wove into his tunic. His breath caught in his throat. "I don't want you to be the father. I won' have a waterbender. I want an earthbender. Don't get me pregnant."

"I won't," he said. He kissed her gently, trembling a little. She was a woman. He had known for years that she was a woman, but it felt so much more real now. She was all curved and warmth, firm and soft, and she was pressing against him.

"I want this. I want you." She kissed him, far rougher than he had kissed her. It was all Toph, rough and loving at the same time. "But don't get me pregnant. Don't."

"I won't." He promised again, pushing her to the floor. "I really won't."


	3. Happy

Sorry for the delay. Life had me crazy busy for a while.

* * *

Lin belongs to someone named Kanto, technically. Kanto was one of Toph's metalbending students. A cop. He got himself fried by a firebender who couldn't control his lightning. Toph had cried with Katara late, late into the night and said, "I didn't love him, but I liked him. I really liked him."

But she has Lin and she's fine. She fawns over her daughter, holding her close whenever she can, taking her maternity leave as long as she can. She trusts few people to care for Lin, but Katara is her favorite babysitter.

They spend far too much time around Katara's house. They are desperate. It gives them chances to sneak away, to be together, to kiss and grab in the shadows, the councilman and police officer, with some half-hearted attempt to keep it a secret. It would be a bit of a scandal, though not much of one. Neither is married, and Toph obviously isn't one to care about any of that womanly virtue nonsense.

Katara is a little more concerned, glaring at him while a young Bumi, settles on her hip. "I'm not okay with this, you know. Yeah, she's tough and all that, but she really cares for you, Sokka, and the least you can do is have the decency to announce you're dating instead of hiding it like you're ashamed of her."

"I've asked, Katara," he says, chuckling. "I asked her if she wanted to tell everyone we're dating, I even asked if she wants to get married."

She frowns. "You should get married."

He shrugs. "Toph's not going to get tied down with me. I'm just going to enjoy this for what it is."

She's quiet for a while. She tends to Bumi letting him suck on a bottle. He rolls around in her arms, so that holding him up takes so much work she can almost never attend to any other task. She squeezes him tight to her and looks at her brother. "But doesn't that hurt?"

"It'd hurt more if she married me and wasn't happy." He looks at her and sighs. "I just want her to be happy, even if that means that it's not a family like you and Aang have."

She clicks her tongue. "Do you really think she wouldn't be happy with you? She's clearly in love with you."

"Of course she's happy with me Katara." He takes Bumi from her with a smile. "So why change anything?"


	4. Suyin

Yeah, got this one out way quicker!

* * *

Suyin is two, and she's dark. So, so dark. Toph doesn't know until Suyin is four months old and the Southern Water Tribe healer asks, "Is she one of ours?" as she cares for the colic that has been making Su cry. It's not obvious. It's not sure. But Suyin looks like she could be part water tribe - she could be part water tribe.

Toph trembles when Sokka comes into her office after a long day of government work. Her hands squeeze the wood of her chair. She's put away the metal one so she wouldn't break it, but even this wooden one seems close. She hears him stop a few feet away.

"What's wrong?"

Her voice is barely above a whisper. "You knew about Suyin."

"I've wondered," he counters. "I didn't know. You sleep with a lot of different people, Toph, I know that. I didn't think I was the only water tribe guy you'd gone to. I figured you didn't know."

"I would have, if someone would have told me earlier." She glares, her eye contact more unnerving from her cloudy eyes. "Is there a reason no one told me that my daughter is dark?"

He chuckles. "Well, Toph, it's usually not considered polite to comment on a baby's race."

She slams a fist on the desk. "This isn't funny, Sokka! She's yours! Su is your daughter and you're on the council-" Her voice raises, growing hysterical "-Spirits, Sokka, I've ruined you. The voters, the conservatives, they'll tear you apart. I was so stupid and careless."

"Oh, Toph," he whispers. "No."

"Oh Toph yes," she spits. "And I took this from you. You're her father and you haven't even known for two years. I took you away from your daughter." She falls back into her chair. "I'm so sorry, Sokka, I didn't mean to. I didn't know until the healer said."

His hands are gentle, tugging her up to her feet and into his arms. "Oh, Toph, you didn't know. And I've been playing the dad to your girls for years. I was there when Su walked and when she called you Mama and when she shaped a rock into a ball." He laughs again. "Is that a big step for an earthbender? it seems important."

Her voice trembles. "But family is so important to you. It's why I never wanted…"

"Yeah, family is important. Not the blood part, though." He sits and she sits with him, side by side on the desk. "When I was growing up, I was in a small tribe. I knew everyone. My options for the girl I could marry could have been counted on one hand, and i thought that was so important. We had a strong tradition of family and we were all related, somehow. We were all water tribe, the same blood. Then we started travelling and...Suki was an infatuation the first time we met. We were travelling and she was staying put. I never thought I would get to be with her. Yue was serious, but Yue was still water tribe, and that was enough."

"Until she turned into the moon."

He grins. "Yeah, until then. Then I had Suki, and I'd finally grown up enough that I realized loving her was enough. Aang was already my brother, even if there wasn't any blood there and he hadn't married Katara yet. You were family too, Toph - maybe even quicker than Aang. You're a lot more human and a lot like me."

"You know, this is a cool story, Sokka. Does it have an end?"

He snorts. "Fine. My point is, I used to think that there was a way a family worked, how it had to be, but there's no rules, Toph. There isn't one way it has to be. Sometimes the parents are weird and that makes the family weird. I don't think I mind Su calling me Uncle Sokka. It's be easier to deal with because of our jobs and easier…" he sighs. "I think it's kinder to Lin this way. More fair."

Toph nods. "If I tell Su about you, I'll have to tell Lin about...about Kanto and how he…"

. He kisses her temples. "You can't take her away from me, Toph. That's a line. You can't stop me from being there for her, or seeing her. You can't do that."

"Well, if you ever turn into a terrible drunk I might." She smiles and tangles her fingers with his, and he thinks for a moment how he might have panicked as a teenager if she said something like that, how he might have insisted on her promising. It's different now, and he can take Toph at her word. He's rewarded when she continues. "You know, I don't think I could leave you anymore."

He squeezes her hand. 'How come? You love me?" He's always delighted at the pink on her cheeks that appear when they talk about real feelings.

"Nah, I just got used to having someone tell me I look alright every morning."

"You look beautiful every morning," he retorts. He whispers it in her ear and it sends a shiver down her spine.

"See?" she says, tugging him so their bodies press flush together. "That's why I keep you around."


	5. Retire

Toph doesn't come to him often. Not during a work day. Not as Toph, at least, not like she does today. Not casting her armor aside, letting it pile up in a corner as she falls into the large, comfy chair of his office. Not with her hands tugging the bun out of her hair and running through the frizzy mess with a groan. It is so unlike the police office he is used to at work, he wonders for a moment if she's forgotten where she is.

But she speaks to him, not looking at him like Toph the Officer would, with sightless eyes matching up with his, but like off-the-clock-Toph with her head hung down slightly, not bothering to fake sight for the public. "I think it's time for me to leave, Sokka."

He snorts. "It's one o' clock."

"I don't think I should put the armor back on." She twists her fingers in her hair, not quite fixing it, but not messing it up further. "I covered up a crime, Sokka."

"What?" he whispers, looking around the room though he knows nothing is there - Toph could sense any bug in the office from the metal and people are always easy for her to spot. "Toph, why are you telling me?"

"It was Su." She rubs her temple. "Theft. Technically assault on an officer, but the officer was Lin. It wasn't Su attacking an officer, it was two sisters having a fight. I know that, you know that, but the law won't. The judge and jury won't. I'd let Su sit in jail for a week or two for theft, but not years. She shouldn't be put in jail for years because she fought her sister while she was in uniform."

"Spirits," he breathes. "Did you already do it?"

"Yeah, stupid. I said I covered up a crime. Wake up." She leans forward over the desk and taps her fist on his head, just head enough to sting. "You have a say in this. You're enough of a father to both of them. What do we do?"

"When did you cover this up?"

"Three hours ago. Easy to undo."

"It took you that long to decide to tell me?"

"No." She smirks. "I just got lunch."

He leans back and laughs, half because he thinks she's funny and half because he's nervous and confused and there's nothing to do but laugh. She laughs with him. He settles, sighs, and leans forward again. "You can't let Su get away with this, Toph. She still stole. We can't ignore that."

"I'm sending her away." She meets him at the table, grabbing his hand. "I think she'll be okay if she's forced to find her own way. I think she's bored. Su's more like us when we were young, y'know? She wants to do things and make a name for herself. She can't do that when the town's got a statue of me literally towering over her."

He grins. "Oh, should we take it down? I'm sure we can repurpose the marble into-"

"Don't even joke about that. I earned that thing." But she smiles back. "Still, it might be time for me to walk away."

"Because of this? Toph, you're an amazing chief. This one incident isn't-"

She cuts him off again. "I've wanted to leave for a while. This is just an excuse. The hours are long, the work is hard and there's no rush in cleaning up the streets anymore. It's like taking out the trash now. It's boring. Worse than that, it's keeping Lin down. She could easily be made chief if I wasn't here. All she wants is to be me, anyway. I don't know, Sokka, she'll never grow up if I'm around."

"So what are you going to do?"

She is quiet, then squeezes his hand. "I'm going to live on my own. Outside the city. Maybe travel, I miss that. I liked feeling the world."

He sits up, frowning. "We won't see you again."

"I'll find someone to write and send letters."

"So we won't see you again?" he repeats, a little more forcefully.

"I never see you, and I'm not complaining," she teases. He sighs at her, so she continues, "Really, Sokka, I'll keep you posted. I won't vanish."

"Stay long enough to tell everyone else, at least. You should stay in the force long enough that no one gets suspicious and starts digging. It should blow over in a couple weeks." He brightens a little. "We could throw a party!"

"No party."

"But you'll do everything else?"

"Yeah," she agrees. I'll do everything else."

* * *

I've been thinking about this scene for, like, ever. Ever since it aired in the show, really. Trying to figure out why Toph would choose to basically banish her daughter instead of put her in jail, figuring out how Toph decided to leave, how it related to her being a mother...very fun chapter.


End file.
